Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Day Two In Hawaii: Pearl Harbor

Day two in Hawaii started off early.

I’m talking 530 in the morning early.

This is because that’s when our Home of the Brave tour began. The Home of the Brave tour was only for military members and it took you to Pearl Harbor and other places related to December 7th. It seemed like a fun tour.

Only it started at SIX IN THE MORNING!

Tom was like, “Oh well. I’m up early anyway.”

I was like, “I’M NOT!”

Lucky for him, I was jet lagged so being up at 530 wasn’t as painful as it might have been. Since we arrived in Hawaii the day before at six in the evening, we had just gone out for dinner, crashed, and went to bed. Therefore when the alarm went off at 530, it didn’t hurt as much.

It was still odd being in the hotel lobby when it was dark out. We were surrounded by older people flipping through newspapers and sipping coffee. Enjoying the quiet.

The tour picked us up on time and the guide was really knowledgeable. And funny. I hate when tour guides speak in a monotone voice and are like, “And this is this, and that is that.” Boring. This tour guide was upbeat and I was impressed being that it was six in the morning. Maybe I need to remember that there are people who exist who ARE morning people.

The reason why the tour was early was because Pearl Harbor gets busy quickly. They only offer tours until 3 and tickets go fast. We got the first pair of tickets, which rocked. We were able to explore around the area before the boat would take us out to the actual Arizona memorial.

Here it was in the distance:

And this was the bell from the Arizona:

This was an interesting sign:

There was a small museum with all sorts of items in it. Look at this:

How scary. I feel for the men on those ships. Can you imagine?

This is me touching stuff. Don’t worry, you were allowed to. I’m one of those people that have to touch buttons. I didn’t know Tom was taking this picture.

A tropical looking Tom in front of the Arizona memorial. That ship is the Missouri. You can go on it on a separate tour. I’ve already been on two battleships and believe me, that’s enough. You do a lot of walking on those things. Up and down stairs. Down corridors that look haunted. And so on. And so forth. I personally feel if I’ve seen on battleship I’ve seen them all but Tom still insists on dragging me into them. Lucky for me, we didn’t have time for the Missouri.

This pigeon was walking around as we waited in line to see the movie that you get to watch with the tour. It basically tells you about what happened on that day. The movie, not the pigeon. This pigeon was “special.” It walked funny, had bloodshot red eyes, and ran into the corner once. Basically, the Gary Busey/Lindsay Lohan of pigeons. It made me laugh.

When we got on our boat that would take us to the memorial, this was in the sky:

Very fitting, I think.

Getting closer to the monument.

I’m sure most people know that the ship is still leaking oil. The saying goes that it will continue leaking oil until every member on the Arizona has died. The air smelled of oil and my heart clenched as we walked onto the memorial. I kept thinking about what those boys must’ve thought being trapped in the ship. Many never got out. Some were stuck in the ship for days and slowly drowned to death. It’s just…I look at my boy, and I think, “I would die if something happened to you..” I couldn’t help but think of the soldier’s mothers as well.

This is a list of everyone who died on that day:

Again.

I can’t even imagine. Being there is sobering and it makes you think about what is important in life. Who cares about Facebook, those damn Kardashians, or the latest fashion? These men died for our freedom.

We were able to spend 15 minutes and then we were taken back. This was the anchor from the ship:

Yes, I am in a more tropical shirt! That was the most tropical thing I brought. And I didn’t have my purse because you weren’t allowed to bring any bags. Yes, I am holding a bag but that’s because it’s THEIR gift shop bag.

Our tour guide said the following as we drove to Pearl Harbor.

“Here are the rules for Pearl Harbor: no bags.”

Yup. Thanks to September 11th, bags are no longer allowed. FYI.

We went to other bases that had to do with December 7th and then ended in a museum that is owned by the tour guide’s friend.

This motorcycle was in the movie Pearl Harbor:

Tom is pretending to be Ben Affleck.

It was a fantastic day. If you are military, I’d highly recommend the Home of the Brave tour.

We got back in the afternoon and relaxed. Then we went back out to enjoy a Hawaii sunset:

Don’t mind that kid. He wouldn’t stop getting out of the shot and his parents were too busy trying to take photos of the sunset. It’s like, hello, please get your kid, we’re trying to get a shot too. Thank you! Now I have a photo that looks as though the kid is eating my ass. Neat.

So that was Day two.

Day three consisted of a tour around Oahu.

More on that Friday. Not tomorrow, since Thursday is Things That Annoy Me Thursday and Oahu does NOT annoy me.

Wow, that is so neat that you were able to go on that tour. I learned a lot just from reading your post! Gorgeous pictures. Makes me wish I were in the military so I could go on the tour!That pigeon, priceless!

Thank you for sharing your pictures. I hope to go there someday and as I tell my husband, hopefully sooner than later and preferrably without a cane! Hey, for the tour you were on, do you have to be active military or can your hubby be a Veteran?

What a neat trip. Pearl Harbor is on my travel wish list. My grandfather landed (as scheduled) the day after the attacks, and his duties for the first few weeks of his naval career were essentially clean up after the attack. I'd love to see it some day (and the rest of Hawaii too, but not for the same reason :)

We lived in Honolulu for five years, and I have to say, as much as we got sick of the touristy stuff, we ALWAYS enjoyed going to the Arizona when we had company. It always moved me. Thanks for the memories!

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